Dimethylated histone H3 at lysines 4 and 9 as well as proteins involved in the regulation of transcription (histone deacetylases HDAC-1 and HDAC-11, DNA methyl-binding protein Kaiso), cell cycle control (protein kinases Aurora-В and PKR, chromosome protein CENP-E , and phosphorylated and acetylated histone H3), DNA repair (phosphorylated histone H2AX), and nuclear protein import (importins α3 and α5/7) were over-expressed in the melanoma tissue as compared with normal skin.
PKR can either be up-regulated through direct induction by the transcription factor E2F-1, or it can be activated through direct protein-protein interactions with the melanoma differentiation-associated gene-7 (MDA7, IL-24).